Brain Stroke Signs
Strokes are very serious medical conditions and this is why it is very important for anyone who is at risk to be aware of the warning stroke signs. Strokes are a medical emergency and the patient has much better chances of treating it and recovery from it if he or she receives medical care as soon as the first stroke sign occur.
The stroke signs may vary depending on the part of the brain that the stroke affected. The most common stroke signs that patients may notice are the following:
• sudden weakness or numbness or the arms, legs and face on one side of the body. These may be complete or partial and sometimes are accompanied of a feeling of tingling on the affected parts of the body;
• some patients lose their speech or encounter problems in talking or understanding the others;
• loss of vision or dimness can occur, especially in only one eye;
• sudden falls, inability of standing steady and unexplained dizziness;
• loss of balance;
• confusion and sometimes weakness in the face muscles causing drooling;
• severe sudden headache with no apparent reason.
In some cases, patients may experience sort of “temporary strokes” which can occur any time before a major stroke. They are called transient ischemic attacks or simply TIAs and they are ones of the most important stroke signs because once a patient has suffered from a TIA is only a matter of time until he suffers a major stroke. Persons who suffer a TIA are 9.5 times more likely to develop a major stroke than the other persons of the same age and sex who did not experience a transient ischemic attack. The TIAs occur when an artery is temporarily blocked by a blood clot and a part of the brain does not get the needed supply of blood. The symptoms of a TIA can last from few minutes to few hours and are very similar to the major stroke’s symptoms but they never last more than 24 hours. Thus, the symptoms of a TIA are temporary.
When a person has a stroke time is crucial for his or her salvation so knowing what to do in case yourself or someone else has a stroke is very important. Any person who notices any of the signs and symptoms of a stroke should first seek medical attention and call 911 or the number that activates the emergency medical response in their area. If possible, a family doctor or a neurologist should be contacted while the ambulance in on its way. The person who is experiencing the symptoms should lie flat so the brain will get the optimal blood flow. In case of drowsiness, unresponsiveness or nausea the best is to place the person in the rescue position on their side because there is a risk of choking if vomiting occurs.
When someone is having a stroke, its administration is not recommended once the stroke signs appeared even if this medication plays a great role in preventing the disease.